Caroline Lucas stages “emergency intervention“ for the environment

Author

EJ Ward

May 30,2017

Caroline Lucas, Green Party co-leader, has this morning staged an “emergency intervention” into the General Election campaign to highlight how the environment has been ignored in the national debate so far.

Lucas and Green Party campaigners have today visited Labour HQ and 10 Downing Street with a giant Green question mark, asking Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May: “Where is the environment?”.

The visits will follow letters sent to Corbyn and May by Lucas, calling on both to reflect the scale of the threat currently facing the environment in the remaining 9 days of their parties’ campaigns.

The party say that with 2016 the hottest year on record and Britain facing an air pollution crisis, Lucas has call on Corbyn and May to make the General Election a “turning point in history” and put the environment back on the political agenda.

The question mark was then taken to Parliament Square where Lucas addressed campaigners about the importance of the environment.

The Greens outside Labour HQ

Outside Downing Street

Caroline Lucas, Green Party co-leader, said:

“It beggars belief that this election has been almost environment-free when we face an air pollution crisis, the threat of an extreme Brexit and accelerating climate change.

“Environmental protection isn’t an optional extra – it must be part of any long term vision for this country’s future. But shamefully it’s an issue that has been conspicuous by its absence so far in this election campaign - and this has got to change.

“With almost no mention in the leaders debates and glossed over in the manifestos, it's hard to believe any other parties are committed to stopping climate targets slipping further out of reach, cleaning up our air or ending the free-fall in biodiversity.

“We have the chance to make this General Election a turning point in our history, when the UK steps to become a world leader in environmental protection. But to do that we need to put the environment back on the political agenda.”

The sino.uk news team were at the event. Our news editor wondered if it was all a bit too like the Riddler?